Duplicating machine



Dec. 11, 1934. c. H BRADT DUPLICATING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 1, 1934 INVENTOR CHARLES H. BRADT ATTORNEYS 50 Us n Dec. 11, 1934. BRADT 1,983,517

DUPLI CATING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1, 1934 2 Sheets-Shet-Z INVENTOR CHARLES H. BRADT 47 45 ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 11, 1934 UNITED STATES DUBLICAT-ING MACHINE Charles II.-Bradt,Groton; N. Y assignor to L. C. Smith &-6orona Typewriters, -Inc., ,-Syracuse, N. -Y.,.a..corporation;of New York Application February '1, 1934. Serial No. 709,258- 90laims. (01-. 101-433) This invention relates to improvements in duplicating machines, and :more particularly "to duplicating machines-of the hectographtype;

The invention has for its principal objects to provide a duplicating machine of the hect'o'graph type capable of transferringan undistortedinegative from a master sheet to the surface of the resilient gelatinous duplicating -medium and of producing uniform and undistorted copies from the negative; to provide improved means for exerting uniform pressure across theduplicating medium by the impression roller -.as the roller is rolled thereover t: impress a sheet thereon; to prevent damage tothe duplicatingmedium by exertion of excessive pressure thereon by .the impressionroller; to provide improvedmeans for compensating for variations in=thickness of. sheets impressed on the duplicating medium by the-impression roller; to provide improved means for varying the degree of pressureapplicableby-the impression roller in applying sheets to the duplicating medium; and to provide adjustable means for efficiently supporting and guiding an impression roller carriage to reciprocateover the duplicating mediumat different levels.

Other objects and: advantages: of the invention will appear from the following description of-the preferred embodiment of the invention. illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. Lisa fragmentary sideelevation of a hectograph duplicating machine in which the .improvements are embodied in'a preferred-form;

Fig. 2 :is afragmentary plan view of thezmachine;

.Figs. 3 and 4 are fragmentaryside elevations showing the ,carriageadjusting" means latchedat opposite limits of adjusting movement thereof;

Fig.5 is a detail horizontal sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 1 showing the mounting of the carriageguide rod on the machine frame;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on the linefi-G of Fig. v2 showing the impression roller'latched in its lowered workingposition in the carriage ;v

Fig. '7 is a View similar to Fig. 6 showing the impression roller lifted to its inactive positionin the carriage; and.

Fig. 8 is aperspective view showing the rotatively'adjustableaxle for the carriage supporting wheels, and the operating handle held to said axle forirotatively adjusting the axle.v

Only so -much of: the machine is .shownvand will be described as is necessary fora-fullunder-.- standing of the present invention. The frame of the machine-comprises side walls 10, the usual flat horizontally disposed bed 11, supported by said \walls, and apair of channel elements l2extending longitudinally of the: bed: atopposite sides of the'bed-and alsosuportedby saidwalls. The flanges 12 of elements @12i1ieina horizontal plane and form traclemembers. The'usual gelatin duplicating band 'or medium 11-3 extends .over and rests onthe bed with its gelatinous duplicating surface uppermost, and said band, as usual is connected :to winding spindles 14 'journalledon the frame.

An impression roller carriage l5 isireciprocable over the bed r1 longitudinally of thebed, said carriage being shown at the front end of'wthe machine at. the forwardlimit of :its reciprocating movement-in Figs. 1 and: 2,rthe first-mentioned view showing the'right handside ofthe; machine. The impressionlroller orplaten lfiifor layingsand pressing sheets upon the duplicating medium 13 isl journalled in the usual pivoted yoke 17. which yoke is pivoted at 18 in the "carriage :and. is provided withthe usual handle 17. The. working position of the impression roller in the carriage is determined by stops 19 on the carriagewhieh are engagedby thesidearms of yoke--17 toarrest downward movement of the impression roller relatively to th carriage. To lockithe, roller mats workingposition in the carriage shown inEEigs. l-to 4andFig.6,.a latcharmZO; whichds'fixed'on a rock shaft .21 :journalled ;on thecarriage, zis engageabledn frontao'f azprojection 22 .onnthe left hand sidearm-10f the:yoke-:117. Rock shaft 2lris provided with a-suitablehandlezextension fil for convenient actuation of the "latch arm. When the impression rolleris lifted to itsinactivexposh tionshown in Fig. '7 it is releasably latched-by the usual spring-pressed latch plunger: 23;mount ed on:the carriage,,past the innenend-of WhiChsiS adapted to be @forcedthehead of a-screw 24 on thezrighthand-endr of yoke .17.

Mounted ,on the carriage 11813. forwardly and downwardly inclined paper table 25 311C123; paper feed'rollerzfi. :Feedvroller 2.6/is, asv usual, =journalledinarmsz'l-cwhich arepivotedat 28 onwthe carriage and pressed forwardly by springs-29 to press-thefeed-roller to thezimpressi'on-roller ,when the latter is in working position. The usual stops. 30aare provided on the: carriage-.forrlimiting forward swinging of .arms 2'7-whenvthe-impression roller is lifted.

Theimprovements as embodied in their preferred form, in themachine-will now be-described.

The carriage extends downward at its right hand end:outside .of the-right hand track member l2 and isprovided withtwo fore-and-aft-spaced bearing ears 31 extending inward under said track member and spaced therebelow, which ears have cylindrical bearing apertures aiiordirg a sliding and pivotal fit on a guide rod 32 of round crosssection to permit the carriage to pivot about the rod axis and prevent horizontal skewing and fore-and-aft tilting of the carriage relatively to the guide rod. Guide rod 32 extends horizontally longitudinally of the machine parallel to the adjacent side edge of the bed and is supported to rise and fall relatively to the bed without tilting. Preferably, the rod is fixedly held at its ends to the outer ends of the parallel arms of a rigid yoke 33, which yoke is pivoted at 34 on the vertical end flanges 35 of the right hand one of the two channel members 12 of the frame for swing-. ing of the yoke arms up and down in the channel member. Owing to the length ofthe arms used and the limited extent of up-and-down swinging movement of the arms required for the purposes of the invention, rod 32 moves up and down practically in a vertical plane. Preferably the yoke is rockable from a downwardly tilted position to an upwardly tilted position, the yoke being shown tilted downwardly in Fig. 1.

A front stop 36 on the guide rod and an adjustable rear stop 37 on the guide rod may be provided to limit the reciprocating motion of the carriage, stop 37 carrying a clamping screw 38 for locking the stop to the rod in adjusted position along the rod.

Journalled in bearing apertures 39 in the carriage is the main portion 40 of a crank axle having eccentric end portions 41 on which are journalled a pair of supporting wheels 42 for the carriage 15. The wheels'are held on the end portions of the axle by cotters 13 passing through apertures 44 in said end portions. Wheels 42 overlie and are adapted to travel on the upper faces'of track members 12 The crank axle has a boss 45 at the left hand end of its main portion 40 to which is fixedly held an operating hand lever or rock arm 4.6 by means of which the crank axle may be rotatively adjusted in its bearings 39 on the carriage to raise and lower the wheels 42 relatively to the carriage, the rotation of the axle in one direction raising the two wheels equally and simultaneously, and the rotation of the axle in the opposite direction lowering the two wheels equally and simultaneously.

A bracket 47 fixed on the left hand end of the carriage has a closed slot 48 therein extending fore-and-aft of the carriage. Handle arm 46 extends up through this slot which limits the rocking movement of the handle from the position shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7 to the position shown in Fig. 4. Handle arm 46 is slightly springy laterally of the carriage and slot, and the inner wall of the. slot is provided with a plurality of notches 49 in which the arm is adapted to snap to lock the arm at one limit or the other of its adjustment, or at one of a plurality of intermediate positions, five notches in all being shown in the slot wall, as appears most clearly in Fig. 2.

When handle arm 46 is rocked to its forward limit of movement the wheels 42 are lifted relatively to the carriage the maximum extent, and when the handle is rocked to its rearwardlimit of movement the wheels 42 are lowered relatively to the carriage the maximum extent. At both limits of adjustment of arm 46, as well as at all intermediate adjusted positions of said arm, the wheels 42 are adapted to engage tracks 12 to support the carriage in parallelism with the bed and out of contact with the duplicating medium on the bed while the impression roller is lifted to its inactive position in the carriage. In Fig. 7 the wheels 42 are shown engaged with the tracks to support the carriage out of contact with the duplicating medium with handle arm 46 at its forward limit of adjustment and with the impression roller lifted to its inactive position.

In Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6 the handle arm 46 is also at the forward limit of its adjustment but the impression roller 16 is lowered in the carriage to its working position and locked there. With the parts positioned as in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6 it will be noted that the lowering of the impression roller has slightly lifted the carriage and thereby slightly lifted wheels 42 above the tracks 12 so that the full weight of the carriage is imposed on the roller 16 which is adapted to rest upon the duplicating medium on the bed (as shown in Fig. 1), or upon a sheet of paper 50 which is inserted in the carriage for impressing thereof upon the duplicating medium (as shown in Figs. 3 and 6), to thus sup-port the full weight 01 the carriage independently of the wheels.

In Fig. 4 the handle arm is at its rear limit of adjustment and the impression roller is in its active position in the carriage and pressing sheet 50 to the duplicating medium. Wheels 42, however, are engaged with the tracks 12 to support the carriage and thus hold the impression roller i at a higher level than that to which the roller is depressed by the full weight of the carriage in Fig. 3 against the paper backed by the yielding gelatinous duplicating medium and the bed.

A prepared master sheet may be impressed on the duplicating medium to transfer an impression to the duplicating surface or" said medium by inserting the sheet down between the impression and feed rollers and forward under the impression roller to the usual margin bar (not shown) with the carriage pulled to the forward end of the machine and with the impression roller lifted in the carriage, then lowering the impression roller to. working position and shoving the carriage rearward. After the master sheet is stripped from the duplicating medium copies may be made by applying paper sheets 50 to the bed and stripping them therefrom in the same manner.

It will be observed that the improvements above described make it possible to vary the amount of pressure applied to master and/or copy sheets of a given thickness; to apply an identical pressure to sheets of difierent thickness; to prevent exertion of excessive pressure or pressure above a desired degree upon a given sheet; to impress the full weight, or varying parts of the full weight, of the carriage upon a sheet; to support the carriage for travel over the bed at different levels with the impression roller parallel to the bed transversely of the bed; and to insure uniform pressure of the roller along its length upon sheets of different thickness and also to regulate the extent of this pressure.

By adjusting the lever arm 46 step by step from its forward limit to its rearward limit the carriage may be raised from level to level relatively to the bed while in parallelism with the bed to reduce more or less the degree of squeezing of the sheet and duplicating medium between the bed and the impression roller. It is possible to prevent excessive pressure which would so unduly distort the resilient gelatinous duplicating medium as to impair the appearance of copies when taking copies on sheets of difierent thickness or sheets or cards thicker than the master sheet, and to prevent rupturing of the gelatinous surface by application of excessive pressure.

The carriage may be raised and lowered in parallelism with the bed and supported to reciprocate at different levels without changing its parallel relation to the bed. The carriage is prevented from tilting fore-and-aft of the bed and from skewing laterally of the bed, and is supported to rise and'fall relatively to the bed and to assume parallelism with the bed at different levels. At the same time, the carriage may be swung upward and laterally away from the bed to afford free access to the bed and duplicating medium on the bed when desired.

What I claim is:

1. In a duplicating machine, a frame includin a horizontally disposed bed, a duplicating medium on the bed, a carriage, means guiding the carriage to reciprocate longitudinally of the bed, an impression roller, shiftable means on the carriage in which said roller is journalled and by which said roller may be raised and lowered relatively to the carriage from and to a position for pressing a sheet against the duplicating medium, adjustable means on the carriage coactive with the frame at both longitudinal sides of the bed in all adjusted positions of said means to support the carriage out of contact with the duplicating medium when said roller is raised by said shiftable means, said adjustable means being adjustable within fixed limits to support the carriage at different levels relatively to the level of the bed and being movable upwardly with the carriage out of carriage-supporting engagement with the frame by movement of said roller into sheet pressing position when said adjustable means is adjusted to the limit at which it will support the carriage at the lowest level with the roller lifted from sheet pressing position, and a single operating handle for adjusting said adjustable means to raise and lower the carriage uniformly and simultaneously at both sides of the bed.

2. In a duplicating machine, a frame including a horizontally disposed bed, a duplicating medium on the bed, a guide rod extending longitudinally of the bed at one side of the bed and connected to the frame to rise and fall relatively to the bed without tilting, a carriage pivotally and slidably held to said rod to reciprocate over the bed longitudinally of the bed and to swing upwardly and laterally away from said bed, an impression roller, shiftable means on the carriage in which said roller is journalled and by which it may be lowered to the duplicating medium and raised from the duplicating medium, said frame having a pair of horizontally disposed track members extending longitudinally of the bed at opposite sides of the bed, and a pair of adjustable supporting devices on the carriage engageable with said track members in all adjusted positions thereof to support the carriage out of contact with the duplicating medium when the roller is raised, said devices being adjustable to raise and lower the carriage relatively to the bed.

3. In a duplicating machine, a frame including a horizontally disposed bed, a duplicating medium on the bed, a guide rod extending longitudinally of the bed at one side of the bed and connected to the frame to rise and fall relatively to the bed without tilting, a carriage pivotally and slidably held to said rod to reciprocate over the bed longitudinally of the bed and to swing upwardly and laterally away from said bed, an impression roller,

shiftable means on the carriage .in which said roller is journalled and by which it may be low ered to the duplicating medium and raised from the duplicating medium, said frame having a pair of horizontally disposed track members extending longitudinally of the bed at opposite sides of the bed, a pair of supporting devices ,on the carriage engageable with said track members t support the'carriage, and means for adjustin said devices as a unit to support the carriage at different levels in all of which the carriage lies parallel to said bed transversely of the bed.

i. In a duplicating machine, a frame including a horizontally disposed bed, a duplicating medium on the bed, a guide rod extending longitudinally of the bed at one side of the bed and connected to the frame to rise and fall relatively to the bed without tilting, a carriage pivotally and slidably held to said rod to reciprocate over the bed longitudinally of the bed and to swing upwardly and laterally away from said bed, an impression roller, shiftable on the carriage in which said roller is journalled and by which it may be lowered to the duplicating medium and raised from the duplicating medium, said frame having a pair of horizontally disposed track members extending longitudinally of the bed at opposite sides of the bed, a pair of supporting devices on the carriage engageable with said track members to support the carriage, and means for adjusting said devices as a unit to support the carriage at different levels in all of which the carriage lies parallel to said bed transversely of the bed, said shiftable means on the carriage being operable to lower the impression roller journalled therein to a predetermined working level relatively to the carriage in which said roller is coactive with the duplicating medium or a sheet thereon to sustain either all of the weight of the carriage or part of the weight of the carriage, according to the adjustment of said pair of supporting devices.

5. In a duplicating machine, a frame including a bed and a pair of track members extending longitudinally of the bed at opposite sides of the bed, a duplicating medium on the bed, a guide rod extending longitudinally of the bed at one side of the bed and held to the frame at its ends to swing bodily up and down about an axis extending longitudinally of the bed, a carriage pivotally and slidably held to said rod to reciprocate over the bed longitudinally of the bed and swing about the rod axis, an axle journalled in the carriage and extending transversely of the bed and having eccentric end portions, a pair of carriage supporting wheels journalled on the end portions of the axle and overlying the track members, means for rotatively adjusting said axle and holding it in adjusted position, an impression roller extending transversely of the bed, a support in which said roller is journalled, said support being shiftably mounted in the carriage to lower said roller from an inactive position to a working position at a fixed level with respect to the level of the carriage, and means in the carriage coactive with said roller for feeding a sheet between said roller and said means when the roller is lowered to its working position.

6. In a duplicating machine, a bed for supporting a duplicating medium, a pair of tracks extending longitudinally of the bed at opposite sides of the bed, an impression roller extending transversely of the bed, a carriage for the roller, a guide rod to which said carriage is slidably held and about which said carriage may pivot, means supporting said rod along one longitudinal side of the bed to rise and fall relatively to the bed without tilting, a pair of carriage supporting wheels overlying said tracks, supporting means on the carriage on which said Wheels are journalled, and means connected to said supporting means for adjusting the latter to raise and lower said wheels relatively to the carriage in unison and to the same extent.

'7. In a duplicating machine, a bed for supporting a duplicating medium, a pair of tracks extending longitudinally of the bed at opposite sides of the bed, an impression roller extending transversely of a bed, a carriage for the roller, a guide rod to which said carriage is slidably held and about which said carriage may pivot, means supporting said rod along one longitudinal side of the bed to rise and fall relatively to the bed without tilting, a pair of carriage supporting wheels overlying said tracks, a common axle for said wheels journalled on the carriage and having eccentric end portions on which said Wheels are journalled, a rock arm fixed on said axle for rotatively adjusting the latter in its bearings, and means for latching said rock arm in either of a plurality of positions.

8. In a duplicating machine, a bed for supporting a duplicating medium, a pair of tracks along opposite sides of said bed extending longitudinally of the bed, an impression roller extending transversely of the bed, a carriage for the roller, a guide rod extending longitudinally of the bed to which said carriage is slidably and pivotally held at one side of the bed, a pair of guide rod supporting arms supported to swing up and down about a common axis which extends longitudinally of the bed, said rod being rigidly held to said arms, and a pair of carriage supports adjustable up and down on the carriage and overlying said tracks and adapted to travel on the latter.

9. In a duplicating machine, a bed for supporting a duplicating medium, a pair of tracks along opposite sides of said bed extending longitudinally of the bed, an impression roller extending transversely of the bed, a carriage for the roller, a guide rod extending longitudinally of the bed to which said carriage is slidably and pivotally held at one side of the bed, a pair of guide rod supporting arms supported to swing up and down about a common axis which extends longitudinally of the bed, said rod being rigidly held to said arms, and a pair of carriage supports adjustable up and down on the carriage and overlying said tracks and adapted to travel on the latter, and means for adjusting said pair of carriage supports simultaneously and equally.

CHARLES H. BRADT. 

